HOW TO FERMENT GARLIC SCAPES

YOU CAN FERMENT GARLIC SCAPES EASILY!
If you have received garlic scapes in your CSA share in the past two weeks, and haven’t been sure how to deal with all of them, this is a great way to preserve them easily, so you can use them in many ways in the coming months
The stems of the garlic scapes are much sturdier than the blossom ends are, so cut off the blossom ends and use them right away.
The stems have a mild garlic flavor, so you don’t want to lose them.
I have two ways you can ferment garlic scapes:
1. Chop the garlic scape into small pieces and pack them into a pint (or larger)jar.
2. Make a brine of @ 1 C water and 1 T salt. To that, add 1 or 2 caps of probiotics (or 1 teaspoon of probiotic powder). Pour the brine over the garlic scapes, to fill the jar up to @ 1/2 in of the top. Push the garlic scapes down so they are under the brine.
3. Put a dome (2-part lid) on the jar, or, if you are using a “found” jar, just put that lid on it, and put the jar in a bowl, or on a saucer, and leave for 3-4 days (or more). You need the dish under it because it is likely that liquid will seep out.
4. Enjoy

Way 2 –
Chop the garlic scapes finely (or process them in a processor (small food processor, Magic Bullet or Nutri Bullet with the flattest blade) and combine them with a salsa mix or other vegetable mix, and follow step 2 above

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FERMENTED SALSA AT 6 DAYS: WOW! Second Grand Opening

On Monday, I opened one jar of my fermented salsa. It was delish, which  good, because I was going to go to the “fermented sauces” meetup in a few hours.  Long story short: I took the salsa to the meetup, people tasted it, said it was good, but no one asked me about it.

Tonight (8 days after I put it to ferment, I opened the second jar. Whoops! It jumped out at me!  That’s my sign for a good ferment. I skimmed off the stuff that was poking out of the jar (next time, I’ll remember to open it over a bowl, to save the juice.

Right now, I am thinking about getting some cauliflower, to make a “tabouli” with it.  That’s tomorrow’s project.

Meanwhile, I am sort of thinking of saving back a bit to use as the starter for a cashew cheeze.  It could be yummy!

SPRING VEGETABLES! What can I ferment? Meet-up quandary: will probably ferment green beans

There’s a big Fermentation  Party in Brooklyn at the end of the month. I want to go, so I’ll have to ferment something (maybe a cheeze? I want something spectactular, or at least remarkable)

Meanwhile, the next NYC Ferments is for Spring Ferments . What?

Here’s my list of spring vegetables:
Artichokes
Asparagus
Belgian Endive
Broccoli
Butter Lettuce
Cactus
Chayote Squash
 Chives
Corn
Fava Beans
Fennel
Fiddlehead Ferns
Green Beans
Manoa Lettuce
Morel Mushrooms
Mustard Greens
Pea Pods
Peas
Purple Asparagus
Radicchio
Ramps
Red Leaf Lettuce
Rhubarb
Snow Peas
Sorrel
Spinach
Spring Baby Lettuce
Swiss Chard
Vidalia Onions
Watercress

Aha! I can ferment green beans. Actually, I make some mean jalapeno dill fermented green beans! Aha!

NEW SPICY TOMATO SALSA FERMENT GOING

I’ve just put a quart and a half of tomato salsa to ferment.  

What did I put it in?  About 6 large Roma tomatoes, chopped; a large onion, chopped fine, a medium-sized yellow bell pepper, chopped fine;  one very ripe jalapeno (it was orange), chopped fine;  a large handful of cilantro, chopped fine; 3 large garlic cloves, minced; 2 t sea salt; and 2 capsules of New Chapter All-Flora probiotics.  

There’s a fermenting meet-up on Monday evening, and I am fully expecting this mix to be ready and garlicky-spicy-licious by then. 

GNOWFGLINS – interesting resource for food prep lessons

GNOWFGLINS is a homesteading blog/website/newsletter with mountains of information. Wardee Harmon sends out newsletters with all sorts of useful free  information, and, too, she offers on-line e-classes, each of which contains numerous useful items.  What’s interesting about her courses is that they are offered on a “membership” basis, i.e., you pay by the month (so, if you are like me, you could probably inhale at least 5 courses in the space of a month).  These courses are not exclusively even vegetarian, but quite a few offer useful items for raw vegans (I have my eye on the first course, Fundamentals, which talks about sprouting beans, making water kefir, sprouting whole grains, and making natural pickled foods, among other items which are not of interest to me). Fundamentals II covers equipment for a traditional foods kitchen, natural sweeteners, superfoods, homemade salad dressings and sauces, and kid-friendly snacks, among other things I probably won’t be interested in). LactoFermentation covers all aspects of fermentation (I’ve read Wardee’s book on fermentation, but I still think this might reveal some things to me. I know she uses a whey-based fermenting culture, but I know I can get around that with lactobacillus caps. This lesson promises how to ferment fruit, fermented condiments, kefir, kombucha, and kvass, fermented honey, and more)  The dehydrating course is of interest to me because I am self-taught, and I think I might be able to learn some extra things

That’s 4 courses that I think I can learn something from, which, if I can focus and finish those courses in a month’s time, will make the month’s $17.95 membership very cost-effective. 

You might consider checking out Wardee’s site, and these course offerings – I haven’t seen such a good over-all pricing for the information I am after, and, anyway, I’d like to see how she does this, so I can tell you more at another time.

10/03/2013 CSA SHARE: What we got, what I took, & what I will do with it

HERE IS WHAT WE GOT AND WHAT I TOOK:

Baby Beets- 1 bun
Swiss Chard- 1 bun
Boston Lettuce- 2 heads(green or red)       Red Peppers
Tomatoes- mixed variety
Arugula- 1/2 lb. bag
Toscano Kale  – 1 bun
Long Red Peppers -3 pcs

The first major question I heard from other CSAers was “what happened to the beet greens”? Someone figured there was a CSA out there somewhere which had only beet greens and no beets!

With the Swiss Chard, it was me doing the “I will/I won’t” dance. In the end, I did come home with a bunch of chard – just not the bunch I had put in the trade box. What will I do with it?  I am not real sure just yet, but I am thinking wraps with the leaf halves and a ferment with the stems.

Beets?  I just haven’t decided  yet.  Thank heavens beets will stay in the refrigerator for a while, giving you time to think things over.

I ended up bringing home some arugula – I tried it on a sandwich but it was most unpleasant for me. I tried it in a marinated greens recipe, but it was grim.  Dehydrate it and grind it and add it to my super-greens jar?  Sounds like a plan.

At least half of the (sweet) red peppers I came home with will go into a hot ajvar. I know it. I have been radically protecting my Monday night event with New York Ferments, and I’m taking the ajvar with me.  This won’t be a traditional ajvar (you cannot keep me away from garlic – it will be in there, I will likely substitute chili powder for the red pepper needed, and I will probably feel the need to put some onion in it)

The kale? Ah! The kale! Kale cheeze and, probably kale chips!  I do love kale!

9/19/13 : WHAT WAS IN THE BOX , WHAT I WENT HOME WITH, and what I will do with it

This is what we got and what I ended up taking home:

Celery root – 2 pcs
Baby bok choi – 1 bun
Scallions – 1 bun……………traded for bok choi
Arugula – ½ lb bag…………traded for 3 red peppers
Zucchini – 1 pc………………got 2 med.small eggplants
Long Red Peppers – 3 pcs
Sweet Potatoes – 1.75 lbs

It was hard for me to decide to take home the eggplant but there was really nothing else to choose except 3 small sweet potatoes, so I bit the bullet.  Now, after researching for only a short time, I wish I had traded something for the eggplants there for trade, as I have found several tasty-looking recipes for fermented eggplant. I am looking forward to making some hot ajvar with the eggplant and red peppers, and some fermented eggplant with garlic.

09/05/13 CSA SHARE: What they say we will get & Salsa update

POST #970
What the CSA says we will get on Thursday:
Green Beans- .5 lb bag
Butternut Squash- 1 piece
Zucchini- 2 pieces
Parsley- 1 bunch
Lettuce Mix- .5 lb bag
Long Green Peppers- 2 pieces
Tomatoes- 4 lb. bag

No matter how early I go over there, it seems that they have always started earlier. So I intend to go earlier yet this week.

Depending on the size of that squash, I’m thinking fermented squash salsa (of course, if it is tiny, that’s a no)
For the zucchini, I’m thinking of making a zucchini tomato ferment. If it’s big, then I might do zucchini sticks with tomato/garlic/onion salsa mix, but if it’s small, I might just cut it into chunks and put it with the salsa.

BTW, I opened one of the tomato salsa jars I put up on Saturday night – yumm!  I decided to see what would happen if I left it longer, so I’ll probably open the other one this weekend. 

(my finger is still attached and I am actually typing with it. I think I will change the bandage I’ve had on it since Sunday morning tomorrow. I hope it won’t look too scary).

8/29/13 CSA SHARE- what we got and what I am going to do with it

POST #967
Without my blog, yesterday seems so long ago! I mean it! I’m so happy to be back on-line!

WHAT WE GOT
Yellow Potatoes – 1 qt
Scallions – 1 bun
Green Bell Peppers – 2 pcs
Garlic – 1 pc
Tomatoes – 6 lbs
Zucchini – 2 pcs

Somehow, I came away with 3 bunches of scallions and 3 pcs of garlic, and a thing of chard (what do you call a “thing of chard”? Thank heavens for the word “thing”)

I chatted with some interesting ladies at the share distribution (one on the volunteer side of the table, and the other right up next to me, bagging her boxed goodies (I gave her one of my Ziploc bags) Promised to send them some fermenting recipes (should I start a mailing list on these things? I’ll have to look into that!) I expect this weekend is going to be about fermenting – I have some cabbage, all those tomatoes, and, I hope some of last week’s cucumbers have survived)

I decided to keep the potatoes. All of the raw food “experts” are now saying that they are actually eating cooked food. I haven’t done that in a long while (I had the power company cut off the gas a good while back, when the last room-mate left, because I haven’t cooked food in 30 years or so). I do have a rice cooker , a coffee-maker, and a microwave, left by a former room-mate, so I am going to experiment with cooking the potatoes and making a real potato salad (with such raw entries as onions and bell pepper). We’ll see how that goes. (We’re talking: I’m dirt poor right now, and I live off what comes in the box, so, at least, this week, I am going to bend and see what all the hoopla of going off 100% raw is about — okay, folks! I’ve been telling you I am 95% raw, even though I have been 100% raw – this is where that comes in! I am finally going to do something you can point at). I’ll let you know how that goes (I’m feeling kind of sheepish. I mean, how do you cook potatoes without boiling or baking them? I guess I can find the info on the Internet somewhere. Somewhere somebody has put information about how to get boiled-like potatoes in a microwave or a rice cooker — if you know, I’d be grateful if you’d tell me – I’m thinking rice cooker)

So, anyway – I’m going to make a fermented salsa with most, if not all, of the tomatoes. Ferments last longer, and I can combine a fermented salsa with all sorts of things. I am probably going to take one tomato and make a fresh “pasta” with one of the zucchini.

An aside – I am kind of bummed that I won’t be able to go to the September meet-up of “NYC Ferments” – they are doing “fermented fruit” this time, and I was planning to take a fermented squash salsa  (check it out on meetup.com), because I have work that night (yea, work! helps pay the rent)

Stay tuned! I’m back! Yea! (thank you WordPress, and thank you, Lord!)

08/15/13 CSA SHARE: What they said and what we got

What they said and what we got:

Yellow Baby Watermelon –      1 pc 2 tiny baby watermelons
Potatoes OR Green Beans –       1 qt or 1/2 lb. bag green beans
Cucumbers – 5 pcs                      8 cucumbers
Baby Leeks – 1 bun                      1 sm. bun leeks
Red Beets – 1 bun                         X
Tomato – 1 pc                               2 tomatoes, 1 big one, one small one

I kept almost everything this time. After a glance into the “trade box”, since most people had discarded their cucumbers, I decided to trade in my small bunch of leeks for 8 big cucumbers – I can make a couple of my favorite cucumber dishes and also ferment a couple of jars worth.

I was disappointed to not get the beets, as I was looking forward to some beet salad this week. Oh well.
Glad to have the green beans, because I can experiment with my green bean gadget recommended by Raw Nouveau. (I’ll let you know that goes)

All in all — YUMM! Good food to eat this week!